


If Dreams and Wishes Were Merely For Children

by TMar



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M, Gen, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 18:29:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16603286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TMar/pseuds/TMar
Summary: While trying to get a new planet to join the Federation, the Enterprise pantomime is interrupted by Ferengi and Romulans. Picard and Crusher end up together anyway.





	If Dreams and Wishes Were Merely For Children

**Author's Note:**

> This originally appeared in "Naked Now Two" in 1992. I've made a few minor edits.
> 
> This was written before DS9 aired (hence the slightly different version of the Ferengi) and before TNG's run ended.
> 
> The song lyrics are, of course, from the title song from the animated "Beauty and the Beast" movie. The title of the story is a slight variation on some lyrics from "The First Time I Loved Forever", the song featured in the 1986-1989 TV series "Beauty and the Beast" which starred Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton.

IF DREAMS AND WISHES WERE MERELY FOR CHILDREN

Barely even friends   
Then somebody bends   
Unexpectedly

"Worf, would you PLEASE stand still!" said Ro Laren as she attempted to fix up the last of the security chief's costume. Worf was nervous, however, and he seemed to be trying to pace and stand still at the same time.

The Klingon was used to being in battles and fighting for honour and saving his crew from danger, but he'd never had to make a fool of himself in public before. If Alexander hadn't talked - actually, begged - him into it, he would never had agreed. "It's just a pantomime, for goodness sake!" said Ro for about the fourth time.

Worf looked down at her, fiddling with his jacket. "Is this going to be much longer?"

Ro didn't take kindly to being told what to do by anyone, even if Worf was her superior officer. She let go of the jacket and said, "Look, If you don't want me to do this, do it yourself!" and she was about to flounce off when Worf stopped her. "No, I... I think I do need help."

"You can say that again," said Ro, finishing what she was doing. Then she called out to their stage director, "One Beast all ready!"

"Thanks!" came the yell from the front of the stage, and Ro pushed him towards the front. "Good L... uh, what do they say on Earth? Break a leg?"

"Stupid expression," mumbled Worf, just loud enough for her to hear.

"Yeah," replied the ensign.

In the other dressing room, Doctor Beverly Crusher was having her costume fixed up. "Boy, I'm nervous!" she said.

"You'll do fine," said Deanna Troi, pulling her gown straight and fastening it at the back.

"Why me?" She looked imploringly at Deanna. "I really thought Keiko wanted to be Belle."

Deanna tried to keep a straight face as she said, "She told me she couldn't dance as well as you."

"Oh, no! You didn't tell the crew about the Dancing Doctor, did you?"

"No. When we were trying to find a Belle who could dance well, Data just, uh, suggested that we ask you."

"Wait till I find him!' said Crusher, seeing the humour. "I'll turn him off permanently!"

"There you are," said Deanna, stepping back so that Crusher could look in the mirror.

The effect was really stunning. A very beautiful medieval gown shimmered in the mirror. It was about a hundred different colours, seemingly sewn together in a rainbow pattern (really replicated), and it made a satisfying "swishing" noise when the doctor moved. The off-the-shoulder effect made it look truly romantic, and the ship's salon had done Beverly's hair up in a medieval but beautiful style. Both Beverly and Deanna doubted that Belle had ever been a redhead before.

"It's beautiful," said Crusher.

"Yes," said Troi, smiling at her friend in the mirror.

***

"Well, Number One, ready for the pantomime?" asked Captain Picard, smiling evilly at his first officer.

Riker gave him a long-suffering look. "Actually, Captain, no. Why me?" He pulled a face. "I can't act. I don't want to dance, and I don't want to put on that costume!"

Privately, Picard thought that his first officer was the best actor he'd ever come across, but he couldn't very well say that, so he just commented: "The females on this ship were unanimous in electing you to play the Prince." Picard stifled another evil smile, irritating Riker, who tried pleading. "Sir, I know I've worn ridiculous outfits before, but really!"

This time Picard did smile, remembering Deanna Troi's account of the outfit William Riker had worn on Angel One. Then his face took on it's business look. "How are we doing in the negotiations?"

Riker shrugged. "Ambassador Sh'aar says they are leaning towards us, but we must remember that the Ferengi have a way of providing incentives we haven't thought of."

"And the Romulans?"

"I have a feeling they'll threaten as opposed to negotiate," said Riker. "Some planets would rather be subjugated than have their citizens killed."

"And so?"

"Ambassador Sh'aar thinks that if we promise to provide protection against the Romulans, they'll join us with fewer protests."

"But we'd do that in any case," mused Picard.

"Not all humanoids think like we do."

Picard nodded. "There's that."

The planet - called Kuron by its inhabitants - was of strategic importance to the Federation. It wasn't in any particular group's space, it didn't have any minerals or anything else of importance, and it wasn't even a very interesting planet to visit, but it was at a kind of "crossroads" between Federation, Romulan and Ferengi space. 

None of those groups had thought of wooing the inhabitants of the planet until someone at Starfleet had pointed out that what the planet lacked in character, it could make up in convenience. A small base on the planet would mean that there would be a branch of Starfleet Command to fall back on if any incidents between any of the three planets occurred. Of course, once Starfleet had started showing an interest in the planet, so had the Ferengi and the Romulans.

The Federation had ordered the Enterprise to ferry one of its best negotiators, Ambassador Sh'aar, to the planet, in the hope of getting them to join, or at least ally themselves with, the Federation. The Enterprise crew had only found out much later why they had been chosen for the mission. It was because the Enterprise was a family ship.

Kuron was one of the few planets left in the galaxy run on an autocratic basis. To be more exact, the head of the planet was the king. "And that's not all," Sh'aar had said during the briefing. "They place a very high value on children."

"Why?"

Sh'aar's antennae had merely twitched - the Andorain equivalent of a shrug. "Hard to say for sure. Unions on this planet are usually between one male and three to seven females, except for the king, who is allowed 20 wives and up to 100 consorts. Females outnumber males five to one, so it is of biological necessity. And because of these high numbers of wives, it would seem that each family will have approximately five or six children."

Picard had nodded. "So, with such high numbers of children, they place great value on them."

Sh'aar nodded. "They have very high family values and believe in making offspring as happy and content as possible."

"Will they think that we are the same?" Deanna Troi had asked.

"Oh, probably. I think that, of even more importance than my negotiating, will be what you do for the children of the planet."

"ALL the children?" Picard asked, shuddering inwardly.

"No, the king's children."

"How many does he have?" asked Riker with a typical gleam in his eye.

"We don't know for sure. At least 200."

"And what can we do for them?"

They had soon found out. After much discussion and research into the things the Kuronians enjoyed, the captain had decided to invite all the king's children under the age of fifteen to a pantomime. He asked to speak to the king about it, and had been put through to the queen instead. On Kuron, the queen always served as the equivalent of a prime minister. "We are very pleased that you will be entertaining our children, Captain Picard."

"It is our pleasure," he'd replied. "We would like to know, however, what the children would like to see."

"They would like to see something enjoyed by children in your Federation."

Picard had had a difficult time with that. He had eventually assigned the task of choosing a subject to his ship's counselor.

Eventually, she had come up with the perfect one. "I think they will enjoy it, Captain. It shows the power of love and loyalty."

"Good. Make it so."

Deanna Troi had then assembled a team to put on a pantomime of the Terran fairy tale known as Beauty and the Beast.

All the players in the pantomime had been chosen through a voting system. No one, except for Worf, was surprised when Worf was voted the best choice to play the Beast.   
He had refused. "Unless you order me to do it, Counselor, I am refusing."

"Worf, this planet is of great importance to the Federation."

"I understand, but there are others whom you could ask to do this."

"I guess so."

And so Worf had thought that would be the end of it until he had gone to his quarters to find his son smiling and eagerly asked, "Is it true you're in the ship's pantomime?"

"No, I am not."

"Why not?"

"I did not want to be."

"But it's Beauty and the Beast! My mother used to tell me about it." At Alexander's mention of K'Ehleyr, Worf suddenly looked hurt, and Alexander knew he'd said something he shouldn't have. "Your mother told me the story, too," he said. "It's such a nice story! I'd be so proud of you! Please be in it! Please!"

When Worf saw how much it meant to his son, he had agreed, and the pantomime had gained one Klingon and Beast-to-be.

The night of the pantomime finally arrived, and as the king's 132 children filed into the ship's theatre, the Enterprise children were just as excited. Smiles were in abundance, and Kuron's king looked happily out at the gathering. 

"Captain, I think this might be the beginning of a long association between my planet and the Federation."

Picard looked past the king at Ambassador Sh'aar, who, just previous to beaming aboard, had almost secured a promise of Federation membership from the king. She nodded, and Picard smiled graciously at the king. 

"I hope so, too," he said.

Riker was still on the bridge, not having to be in the pantomime until  
right at the very end. "Commander, there is a slight discrepancy in sensor readings on the port side," said Ro.

Riker leaned over her console. "Explanation?"

"Sir, I think there is a small ship of some sort out there."

"A cloaking device?"

"Yes. But it is too close to be Romulans."

"Ferengi?" asked Riker incredulously.

"If you want my opinion, yes, Sir."

"All right, Ensign, keep me informed."

"Shouldn't we call the captain?"

"Not until we have something more concrete."

Ro turned back to her console. "Aye, Sir." Then, "Sir. Look."

The ship was decloaking. Ro's hand went to her communicator. "Captain P..."

"Belay that, Ensign!" yelled Riker as the small Ferengi scout ship was revealed on the Enterprise's port side. "They're not doing anything. This is free space. We can't bother the captain during this stage of negotiations."

Laren got that stubborn look on her face, the one everyone was accustomed to seeing when she thought she was right and everyone else was wrong. "Sir, it's only a pantomime!” she said.

"I'm aware of that, Ensign!" said Riker, getting irritated with Ro as usual. "It's still a vital part of negotiating for this planet. And until they do something threatening, the Ferengi have as much right to be here as we do."

Then his communicator beeped. "Commander Riker, time to play your part," said Deanna Troi's voice.

"Sorry, Counselor, I can't."

"Will, get down here. You can't back out now."

"Minor crisis on the bridge. I'm needed here."

"Will - "

"Riker out."

Troi sat there looking extremely miffed. The Beast's transformation scene was less than five minutes away, and no Prince! She could hear the music building and she resolved then and there to find William T. Riker when this was over and strangle him. Who else could she possibly get at this short notice? She looked around. The only person she could see who would know the pantomime and what to do, was the captain. He'd followed the rehearsals with great interest - more out of fear that the Kuronians wouldn't like it than because he enjoyed it. 

Deanna exited the stage via a back door and went around the other side. "Captain," she whispered, "we need you."

"Excuse me," Picard whispered to the king. "Ship's business."

"Oh, I understand," said the king, more interested in the pantomime than in what Picard was doing.

Once outside, Deanna explained the situation to the captain. "I can't do that!" he protested.

“Captain, we have no one else!"

"What about Geordi? Chief O'Brien? Data?"

"Geordi's in engineering. Chief O'Brien's with Molly. Data?"

"Sorry," said Picard, realising how silly it was to want Data to play the Prince and kiss Belle passionately. Then his face went white when he realised that HE'D have to do that. "Counselor, I'd like to help, but - "

"Good, that's settled." And Troi, as small as she was, dragged Picard backstage mostly by force and began undressing him and dressing him at the same time, ignoring the look of panic on his face. Then she dragged him again to the transporter room, where they were going to use the transporter for the 'transformation' scene.

"Ready," she said into her communicator.

"Two more minutes," came the stage whisper from the director.

"Counselor, I want you to know this is above and beyond the call of duty. You owe me," Picard said, smiling.

"I won't forget," Troi said, grinning back at him.

Beverly Crusher, of course, didn't know that Riker had pulled out of his Princely duty at the last minute. She was leaning over to kiss the Beast when suddenly she felt the transporter take Worf, and replace him with her Prince. Immediately, she realised that it wasn't Riker she was kissing, as she'd been kissed by a pseudo-Riker before, but she couldn't do anything until the kiss was over. 

When it was, she got the surprise of her life, but, as they say, the show must go on. Picard looked at her with a long-suffering expression on his face, and the doctor couldn't help smiling. She had enjoyed that kiss, and found herself wondering if Picard had. It was one thing to WANT to kiss the man, but quite another to get your wish in front of three hundred people. She wished they had had a chance to do that away from prying eyes...

All too soon, the pantomime was over and they heard the music, and the children were all clapping enthusiastically. Crusher, Worf, Picard and the rest of the cast strode forward and took their bows, the doctor noticing Worf's expression when he saw who his 'Beast' had turned into! She could almost hear Worf thinking that it wasn't much of an improvement, which, the doctor knew, was terribly unfair. But then, maybe not all people had a preference for strong, sexy, handsome, BALD men... And there on the stage, Beverly blushed at her own thoughts. She looked at Picard out of the corner of her eye, and found he had been looking at her, too.

***

Gregory Quinn, who had asked to be in charge of this mission (he had some very good reasons to want Federation space to be as secure as possible), received the subspace call from Ambassador Sh'aar to tell him that an agreement had been reached with the king of Kuron. The king and nearly all the planet's population (two billion people) was in favour of joining the Federation. "In one day's time the agreement will take effect, and in about three months Kuron will send a delegate to the Federation Council."

"Good work, Ambassador. What about the Ferengi ship that Commander Riker reported after the pantomime?"

"They made the usual noises about Federation's trickery, but when the queen informed them that they were now violating Federation's airspace, they went away quietly."

"Ah, well, maybe they're just not interested in the planet."

"Or maybe they're glad to have the Federation just a little bit closer to them. It could work to their advantage in a war."

"I hope you are wrong, but as long as they stay away for the time being.”

Sh'aar smiled and nodded.

"Admiral - would you like to know exactly what it was that secured the agreement?"

"Sure."

"The fact that Captain Picard deigned to be in the pantomime. They were very impressed by a captain who'd go to such lengths to be a part of his crew."

Gregory Quinn had to laugh at that one. He knew Picard only did that kind of thing under protest, and he couldn't help wondering how the Enterprise crew had pulled it off.

"And he was glad to see such love between the lead actors," added Sh'aar.

Quinn frowned. "Say that again."

"Yes - he said that he could see the love between the lead actors, and he thought it was, quote, 'good for the children'

"What children?"

"Beats me. Sir. Probably the ship's children."

"The lead actors?"

"The captain and the doctor."

"Really," said the admiral, wondering how many more surprises Jean-Luc Picard had in store for him.

***

The Enterprise continued to orbit Kuron, waiting, not only for the agreement to be finalised, but also, as Geordi put it, "for the other shoe to drop". Picard wasn't too worried about the Ferengi, but he had a sinking feeling in his stomach that the Romulans would show up at any time. He didn't want to leave the planet until something had happened, so he spent a great deal of time in his command chair and in the Ready Room, on edge, waiting.

And Picard also spent a lot of time thinking. He kept going back to the pantomime, when he beamed right into a kiss with Beverly Crusher.

He'd always wanted her... wanted to kiss her... but something had always stopped him. Fear of commitment, fear that a wife would take him away from his ship, fear of dying and leaving her alone, fear of creating any children to be responsible for...

Intellectually, Jean-Luc knew that most of those fears were unfounded. Most Starship captains were now married with their wives on their ships, many had children and weren't burdened by them... but the one fear that Picard couldn't think away was also the most real: fear of dying and leaving her alone. When he thought of Beverly like that, that fear always came up and choked him. 

That wasn't an unfounded fear: Jack had died, and he'd seen what it had done to Beverly to be left alone with a child to raise. He wasn't sure if she could handle that, and he didn't want to force her to have to handle it a second time.

And yet... he did want her. Desperately. Picard knew he thought too much sometimes, he should think less and do more. He wondered if this was a good time to start. In three hours the agreement would take effect and the planet would be a member of the Federation. Picard began to relax; perhaps the Romulans weren't interested in Kuron after all. So he decided to throw caution and fear to the winds after all.

The ship's doctor was sitting in her quarters when her door chimed. She opened her mouth to say, "Come in," but the captain was already through the door.

Beverly jumped up, "Jean-Luc! What is it?"

But Picard didn't say anything, he merely walked right up to her and held her.

With Picard's face an inch from hers, Beverly could only say, "Jean-Luc, what's going on?"

"I've wanted to do this ever since the other night," he said, kissing her so thoroughly that it took her breath away. When he finally pulled away. Crusher could only say, "Y... you have?"

"I have. I'd forgotten... some feelings I'd had. That kiss on the stage brought them all back."

"It was a good kiss," Beverly admitted.

"Not as good as this," said Picard, kissing her again, and this time when Picard kissed her, Beverly didn't ever want to see it end, she just let it go on and on... wishing she could just curl right up inside this man and never come out.

Finally the kiss did end, and Beverly found herself enfolded in Picard's arms. "Is this love?" she asked him softly.

"It has always been," he replied, kissing her yet again...

And then, of course, it went wrong. The red alert sounded. 

"Captain Picard to the bridge."

"Picard here. What's wrong, Number One?"

"Romulans, Sir."

"On the way." And Picard thought to himself, 'I knew it!'

"They're demanding that we leave the area," Data said when Picard stepped onto the bridge.

"This is Federation space," Picard said, frowning.

"It won't be Federation space for another forty-five minutes," said Ro Laren helpfully.

Picard gave the Romulan ship on the screen a very filthy look. "Opinions?"

"Keep them busy until it IS Federation space."

"Sir, I am receiving a message from the Romulans," said Worf.

"On screen, Mr Worf."

"Aye, Sir."

The scene of the planet became a tall Romulan who looked to be in almost as bad a mood as Picard. "We know all about your treaty, Picard," he said. "We want you to know that the Romulan Empire considers this yet another Federation act of agression against us."

"And what are you intending to do about it?" Picard wanted to know.

"Get you to leave." The Romulan - who obviously had very bad manners for not introducing himself - then anticipated Picard's next words, because he went on, "If not peacefully, in pieces."

Worf growled softly at his station as if to say, 'It's not us who'll be in pieces,' but Picard merely said, "We will not leave." To Worf he said, "Status?"

"Shields at full power, photon torpedoes and phasers ready."

When Worf opened the channel again, Picard said, "Your move."

The Romulan ship disappeared, and then decloaked at the rear of the ship. A photon torpedo hit the ship on the starboard side of the secondary hull.

"Damage?" asked Picard.

"None, Sir. Shields holding. Return fire?"

"Negative. Let's see just how far they are willing to go."

And then, despite everything they thought they knew about the Romulans, a Romulan appeared ON THE BRIDGE of the Enterprise, having beamed right through the shields.

Worf had his phaser out in double quick time, and managed to stun the Romulan, but not before the Romulan had gotten off a disruptor shot in the captain's direction.

Picard fell to the deck, and the Romulan followed him.

"What the hell!" shouted Riker. "Mister Worf, return fire!"

The Enterprise phasers hit the Romulan ship, but no obvious damage was done. Deanna was bending over the captain. "Sickbay, emergency on the bridge!"

"Mr Worf, photon torpe--" Riker's sentence was hardly out when the ship disappeared again.

Data was scanning for the ship. "Sir, I am picking up a minor disturbance - probably the Romulan ship - heading into Romulan Space."

"What the hell was that for?" Riker asked to nobody in particular. "They must have known we had an agreement, why this sudden attack? And on the captain?"

Crusher was scanning Picard. "Crusher to transporter room. Beam the captain directly to Sickbay." They shimmered out, and Riker stood there looking stunned. Worf was covering the unconscious Romulan with his phaser, and he looked at Riker.

"Take our 'guest' to the brig, Mister Worf."

"It'll be a pleasure," said the Security Chief, dragging the Romulan out.

Riker's next stop was Sickbay. "Well?" he asked.

"He sustained some second-degree burns from the disruptor blast - thank goodness the Romulan didn't have a chance to aim properly - and he'll need some minor adjustments to his heart, but he'll be okay." Crusher put down her tricorder. "Will, what happened?"

"The Romulans. I think it was a ploy, or some sort of a warning, to keep us from closing the agreement with Kuron."

"It's understandable."

"It's also damn worrying. The Romulans have some sort of device that allows them to beam right through our shields. Do you know what this means?" As Beverly nodded, Riker ran a hand through his hair and went to see the prisoner, who by now was awake.

"Why did you attack our ship?"

"You have no right in this space," said the Romulan.

"Neither do you," Riker pointed out, and then, something in the Romulan's stance gave him away: the Romulan was lying. Riker went cold all over when he realised it, and he looked the man right in the eye. "Why did you really attack our ship?"

The man remained silent.

"You know," said Riker smoothly, "your people will treat you as a casualty of war. So if you won't talk... we'll just get a Betazoid - or better yet, a Vulcan - in here to find out what you know."

He saw the fear in the Romulan's eye, because, as most people of the Federation knew, for some reason the Romulans were terrified of Vulcans. But then the Romulan was ice again, and he smiled.

Worf knew what that meant. "Sir, should I get Dr. Crusher to bring in an antitoxin?"

"No, Lieutenant. This man's on a suicide mission. They gave him something we probably can't counteract, in case he was captured."

The Romulan looked self-satisfied, until Riker said, "But I know why he was here." And Riker observed the Romulan's face fall. "Leave him in here, Mr. Worf."

"Aye, Sir."

Worf and Riker left the brig, and left the Romulan. Riker, of course, did intend to have Crusher find an antidote if possible, but he wasn't going to tell the Romulan that.

"Sir, you said you knew why the Romulans were here."

"It's got nothing, or very little, to do with the planet. It was an assassination attempt."

"On the Captain!" Worf looked about ready to go take on the entire Romulan Empire with his bare hands.

Riker nodded. "The Captain knows the Romulans and how they operate too well. They were trying to eliminate him."

"They would have, if beaming through our shields hadn't disoriented the assassin for a few seconds."

They had reached the bridge, and Data had overheard the last part. "Sir, the Romulans used a new kind of transporter wave to breach our shields. It requires tremendous power."

"You're saying what, Data?"

"It is impractical for use in a war situation, and I do not think that they will be able to equip all their ships with the device."

"So it's not something they can use against us?"

"I do not think so, Sir. Not in the near future, at any rate."

"Good. How's the captain?"

"Recovering, I hear," put in Laren from the conn.

"That's good," said Riker, settling into the command chair. "Still unconscious, I assume."

"How did you know that?" Ro asked.

"Because if he was awake he'd either be up here, or he'd've called me down there. Keep me posted, but I didn't think we'll have any more trouble until our agreement with Kuron takes effect."

Picard opened his eyes to Sickbay's ceiling. The last thing he remembered was being very surprised at seeing a Romulan on the bridge of his ship. He knew, intellectually, what must have happened to him, but he couldn't FEEL it from how he was now. Slowly, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath; when he opened them Beverly Crusher's hair was floating just above his eyes. He opened them further and saw her bending over him, looking concerned. "Jean-Luc? How do you feel?"

"I feel... all right." He didn't feel pain anywhere, although he knew he must have been hit by a Romulan's weapon.

"Good," she said.

"What happened to me?"

"You were lucky. Beaming through the shields disoriented the Romulan and his aim was off. You got off with second-degree burns and a few warped components in your heart." She put her hand in his chest. "Don't worry, I've replaced them."

Picard tried to get up. "I must get to the bridge."

"No! Will's there. You need some rest to finish healing."

Jean-Luc lay back down. "How long?"

"A few hours."

"Has the agreement taken effect yet?"

Beverly looked at her chronometer. "A few minutes ago, I think."

"Good." So Picard closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Twelve hours later in the observation lounge, Riker briefed the captain and crew on what had happened. "What about the Romulan?" asked Picard.

Riker shook his head. "He died, two hours ago."

"You couldn't find an antidote?"

"No, Sir," said Beverly Crusher. "Most of the poisons the Romulans use can't be counteracted fast enough. They take a long time to cause death, but one can't administer enough antidote to stop it. I couldn't even find anything with a remote chance of working."

"And the planet ?"

"The king sent his compliments, and wished us well."

Picard smiled at his crew. "So, let's go to our next assignment."

"Aye, Sir." They all got up and left, except for Beverly. She continued to stand there, looking at him.

Finally Picard turned. "Something I can do for you?"

"You can tell me what's going on now."

Picard turned away from her and stared out into endless night. "It was a mistake," he said. "I can't do that to you again."

"What can't you do to me again? Jean-Luc, look at me!" Beverly walked around to stand in front of him. "I love you! Doesn't that have any meaning for you at all?”

"It's not that, it's..."

"It's what happened to you, isn't it? You don't think I can handle it, do you?"

"Even if you can, I don't want to do that to you..." Being shot by the Romulan had brought home to Picard the fact that he might very well be killed like Jack had been.

"No, Jean-Luc. No matter what happens tomorrow, next year, two hours from now, I will still love you. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, you know that."

"Tennyson," muttered Picard.

"It's also true!" Beverly just about yelled. "Jean-Luc, it'll hurt me more not to have loved you, than to have loved and lost you. Don't turn away from me any more."

"I do love you..." he said, softly.

"Then kiss me and forget the fear," Beverly persuaded him.

And so Picard did.

Two days later, a call came for the captain on subspace.

"It's Admiral Quinn, Sir," came Worf's voice on audio.

Picard pulled on his robe. "On the secure channel?"

"No, Sir."

Picard smiled to himself. "He must just want to say hello. Down here, please, Lieutenant.

"Aye, Sir."

Gregory Quinn appeared on the screen. "Jean-Luc, congratulations."

"Thank you, Admiral."

"We've made some new friends, and gained a few strategy points." Picard nodded to these statements, but he wasn't prepared for what the admiral said next. "And the king told Ambassador Sh'aar that it was because of the quite obvious love that the two lead characters shared."

"What?" frowned the captain. "You mean Beauty and the Beast?"

"No, the captain and the doctor."

"Admiral, tell me you're not serious."

"Ask her yourself if you don't believe me," said Quinn. He smiled. "Good work, Jean-Luc. Quinn out." 

The screen went to the Federation symbol, then blanked. Picard stood there for a minute, shaking his head, but then a smile broke out on his face. He turned around. "Can you believe that?"

Beverly, wearing only a sheet wrapped around herself, walked up to him and enfolded him in her arms. "Now, why does that seem so easy to believe, I wonder?"

Picard put his arms around her in turn. "I'm sure I don't know."

The doctor slipped out of his embrace and pushed the button on the desk console. The room filled with a sweet, soft song. Beverly discarded the sheet and wrapped only her medical jacket around herself. "Come dance with me, Jean-Luc."

"All right." He put his arms around her for a few steps, then stopped, listening to the music.

Tale as old as time, true as it can be,  
Barely even friends, then somebody bends   
Unexpectedly...

"I've heard this before," he said.

"Of course you have. It's an old, old song from the fairy tale." 

They began to dance again, and Picard whispered in her ear, "It must have been fate that put me in that pantomime, because I certainly never expected it."

"Neither did I," said Crusher as she and Picard continued to whirl around the floor of his quarters.

Just a little change, small, to say the least   
Both a little scared, neither one prepared  
Beauty and the Beast

THE END


End file.
